Ideas of sustainability for people living in Ealinghttps://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com
A little change can change the world.Tue, 26 Apr 2016 14:26:57 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngIdeas of sustainability for people living in Ealinghttps://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com
In case the refugees amendments was returning again for vote at the House of Commonshttps://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/in-case-the-refugees-amendments-was-returning-again-for-vote-at-the-house-of-commons/
https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/in-case-the-refugees-amendments-was-returning-again-for-vote-at-the-house-of-commons/#respondTue, 26 Apr 2016 14:17:46 +0000http://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/?p=658]]>I have asked my daughter to write a letter to the House of Commons, in case the Dubs amendment was returning back for vote again.

Would it be nice if many of our kids were writing to our MPs on this regard?

Dear Mr Cameron,

Please can you welcome those kids migrants into our country and at least teach them to talk English or give them to an orphanage?

You wouldn’t like if all the English children [counting yours] died of starvation !!!!!!!!!!!!

Those kids out there are in danger of being able to get food , all my family don’t want them to die of hunger and thirst no one does.

Imagine it was you out there dying slowly because nobody helped you.

What if everybody hosted a kid migrant at their house like we can?

You can build a Syrian school but only very cheap I would volunteer to teach when I am older and I learn the Syrian language.

KIND REGARDS FROM

Sofia

]]>https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/in-case-the-refugees-amendments-was-returning-again-for-vote-at-the-house-of-commons/feed/0nicolettalandiSustainable household?https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/sustainable-household/
https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/sustainable-household/#respondSun, 07 Jun 2015 08:31:02 +0000http://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/?p=654]]>I was at a dinner party and a very nice friend of mine, at the end of a conversation on sustainability, resources, climate change etc, asked me:

“So, what do you think a household should do?”

I have been asked this question many times, and I am not sure if I know the full, most efficient answer.

Certainly I have some ideas for our London family which are at the base of this website; I decided to list many of them down here for simplicity.

1- Think, before you do anything, in terms of the environmental impact.

2- Before you buy an object, think: do I really need it? Can I postpone? can I rent it/borrow it? Can I get it second hand?

3- If you decide to buy (consume something new), try to get a solution which was produced with the least resources: avoid chemicals, read the labels, avoid industrialised food, choose renewable resources instead of plastic, think at the miles, at the system of transportation and production.

4- Think at the waste your choice will have and how long it is going to last: waste it is not just about recycling. It is about the shampoos that go in the water, the pesticides that go in the soil, the emissions that go in the air, the habit of having a phone that lasts only 1 year before a new one comes up, the toy which will be played with twice, … Everything we do, we consume, has nowadays an heavy impact at the end of his life, and especially when the object life is short, we need to consider it even before purchasing it.

5- Use public transport. If you live in London, the best way to do this is to forget your car and force yourself to use busses, tube trains, bicycles, feet and occasionally the car club sharing.

6- Think twice when you book your holidays. I have been told on the other sides of the world there are wonderful beaches, sea scenarios, and cheap prices. However a wonderful experience every year is costing all of us our future. If you really have to fly a lot, for instance to see the family, try to offset your impact by changing your life seriously in some other areas, for instance selling your car.

7- If you have money to invest, invest with conscience. Read, discuss, query to find the best way to use your money. I have spent six months re-searching for a true real form of sustainable investment which could help building a better economy instead of investing in the traditional dirty fat guys and I found it very hard. I can share my conclusions if interested.

8- If you do DYI at your own home, push your builder/architect a bit further. Ask for insulation, for natural material solutions, re-use the objects you have already in your house, the wood, the bricks. We are trying to renovate our house as half passive house, it is a very long process, and I don’t know where we will get to, but certainly there is lots that can be done.

9- Reduce your meat consumption, reduce your fish consumption and choose your fish carefully, buy the food with less packaging and less miles and stay in season

10- Keep in mind social injustice at all time; we are heavy consumers in this part of the world, blessed with public services and human rights, not available to millions which are simply born in the wrong geography. Everybody has a different take on social injustice, I just wanted to point this out as it is the elephant in the room. Social crises would come much earlier than the environmental crises: with resources struggle, wars over energy sources, fool privatisation, globalisation of commerce seeking always the cheapest price and the lowest regulation, poverty and desperation are increasing, pushing thousands, but soon millions of migrants on every richer country’s sea side or train or lorry.

11- Act local but think global. Keep reading, stay informed, try to find your own answers of why our economy is pushing us down the cliffs and what we can do to change direction. The price of a cup of coffee here has many reasons miles away and what you do in your day to day either supports or objects this status quo. Nobody is neutral. We either support or object the direction we have taken.

As household, we can vote (every 5 years), buy (every day), read and think (every spare moment of the brain), and talk to the kids, friends and family.

Ana, I hope this was interesting. I tried to keep it short

]]>https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/sustainable-household/feed/0nicolettalandiWe have a list of super movies for you to share and watchhttps://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/11/28/we-have-a-list-of-super-movies-for-you-to-share-and-watch/
https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/11/28/we-have-a-list-of-super-movies-for-you-to-share-and-watch/#respondFri, 28 Nov 2014 13:48:04 +0000http://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/?p=644]]>Last night I invited some friends over and we watched together the End of the Line.

Despite knowing this movie quite well, I have still enjoyed it; the movie has sparked a renovated debate on sustainable fisheries amongst us and re-invigorated my enthusiasm for action.

As you might know, our Ealing Transition Town has purchased through the years several movies, most of which can really make the difference if you watch them with a friend or relatives.

You can borrow them for free or for a small donation, just get in touch withTrevor from the Ealing Transition town or ask me.

Circulating visual information, thinking about it and act where you can, is what I would recommend you to do if you want to help the planet and our species.

List of movies available from the Ealing Transition Town

Here is the list. They vary from farming, to fracking, over-population, power, etc.

]]>https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/11/28/we-have-a-list-of-super-movies-for-you-to-share-and-watch/feed/0nicolettalandiHenna, a metaphor for the struggle in sustainable choiceshttps://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/henna-a-metaphor-for-the-struggle-in-sustainable-choices/
https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/henna-a-metaphor-for-the-struggle-in-sustainable-choices/#respondMon, 29 Sep 2014 12:57:40 +0000http://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/?p=639]]>A couple of years ago I started dyeing my hair with chemical products. The idea of using chemicals on my hair quite upset me but I did not know what else to do.

I have heard about the henna option but it always scared me. Too messy, too long, uncertain result.
Well, I finally found the time to read about it, chosen a product and with the help of my wonderful husband, we had a go.

All the family was a bit anxious to see what tone of red or green I would have turned out,
but my normal brown instead appeared. It wasn’t scary after all and it wasn’t too messy either.

How great it would be if some hairdressers in Ealing were offering the service of dyeing the hair with the henna!
More people could have a go and possibly doing it at home after that.

Henna has many of the characteristics of sustainable products: it does not harm the planet or your body, it requires some time (mostly to get confident enough to experiment) and it is not a mainstream option.

The modification of consumption habits for me begins with “motivation“, (I realise that I need to seek an alternative) then it continues with “information” (I explore the alternatives) but it only happens when I have “time” on my hands (I enforce
the change in my life).

I increasing believe that more time in our day is what people like me need to embrace sustainable solutions:

we all want to make better choices for the planet and the future of our kids but as we don’t have much time instead, we keep rolling on with our lives, made of well-known fast mainstream options.

If you want to have a go at the henna, let me know perhaps I can save you some time.

]]>https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/henna-a-metaphor-for-the-struggle-in-sustainable-choices/feed/0nicolettalandiThe biggest climate march everhttps://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/the-biggest-climate-march-ever/
https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/the-biggest-climate-march-ever/#respondFri, 19 Sep 2014 11:25:24 +0000http://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/?p=635]]>I was surprised to find out that some of my friends still did not know about the march happening this Sunday.http://www.campaigncc.org/climatemarchlondon

You might think yourself won’t make a difference, but this is where we disagree.
When one thousand people go to a march nothing happens. When one million people decide to take action, something might happen.

This march is not happening just in London, see the hundred of events happening in New York City http://peoplesclimate.org/events/ as world leaders are gathered there to discuss the future of the planet.

So, pack up a picnic, take advantage of the warm temperature, invite your friends and family to change the plans you might already have and come to Temple tube station at 12.30.

I hope to see some of my friends there, or being unable to find them because of he huge crowd

]]>https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/the-biggest-climate-march-ever/feed/0nicolettalandiCycling highway to East London, finallyhttps://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/17/cycling-highway-to-east-london-finally/
https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/17/cycling-highway-to-east-london-finally/#respondWed, 17 Sep 2014 19:53:28 +0000http://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/?p=631]]>By the sound of it, we might be blessed with a super cycling highway connecting Acton to Tower Hill.
Here is the map of what it could become:https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/cycling/eastwest/user_uploads/proposed-route-alignment.pdf

A consultation is open, I hope you will fill the survey with me (perhaps just the “overall proposals”), welcoming the project. Here is the link

]]>https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/17/cycling-highway-to-east-london-finally/feed/0nicolettalandiA movie to watchhttps://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/a-movie-to-watch/
https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/a-movie-to-watch/#respondSun, 14 Sep 2014 22:02:20 +0000http://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/?p=627]]>Tonight I went to watch a screening offered by the Ealing transition town.

As usual, it turned out to be a brilliant movie choice, this time about the issue of population growth and how to tackle it, starting from women’s education across the world: “Mother: caring for 7 billions”

Despite being very well known issues, I loved the movie and I would like to spread its knowledge in Ealing and beyond.

Here some ideas:

Ask your local library to buy Mother

Write at article or a blog posting about Mother

​Buy an Academic DVD of Mother and donate it to your local middle or high school.​

I will be writing to Northfields and Ealing library, tonight, anybody wants to join me?

]]>https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/a-movie-to-watch/feed/0nicolettalandiComing back to lifehttps://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/coming-back-to-life/
https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/coming-back-to-life/#respondSun, 14 Sep 2014 15:26:29 +0000http://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/?p=622]]>I finally work part-time, so perhaps I will take this blog back to life.

For now, here is a page with info that might help me to make more sport.

This is a crucial part to live a more sustainable life: more mindfulness, better food, and more sport in my life. I am quite lazy and find excuses for everything, but here some references and hopefully my friend Giusi will push me to action.

]]>https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/coming-back-to-life/feed/0nicolettalandiLiving in a boathttps://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/living-in-a-boat/
https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/living-in-a-boat/#respondSun, 05 May 2013 20:19:35 +0000http://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/?p=576]]>Today we went to the waterways festival at Little Venice in London. We visited the inside of an old commercial boat which was used to bring coal up and down the canals in the country.

The guide showed us how a family of four would have lived in a space that was half the size of our bathroom (and ours is a tiny bathroom). The children were amazed and so were we.

On the way back I was thinking: what a shame.

We finally live in a generation which is wealthy enough to live in large spaces, survive bugs, weather, avoid famine and rapes. However, we still manage to live in a world where horrendous conditions, rapes and famine still occur and kill.

On the top of that, we are also endlessly pursuing a route of environmental collisions against natural limits which we don’t want to acknowledge.

The boat was beautifully painted outside and inside, and so was the teapot, which was highly decorated and apparently a common sign of beauty amongst the boat holders.

If only our species could preserve its beauty but let go its dirt.

]]>https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/living-in-a-boat/feed/0nicolettalandiIMG_1957IMG_1962Feeling the need of buying something?https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/feeling-the-need-of-buying-something/
https://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/feeling-the-need-of-buying-something/#respondSun, 07 Oct 2012 15:28:29 +0000http://ealingsustainable.wordpress.com/?p=569]]>A book? A laptop? A new phone? or do you need to buy a train ticket to go to Manchester for next Wednesday, or to park your car near Euston Station for a couple of days? Or do you need some help because you don’t have the time to do something?

If so, then wait! Instead of buying, this time, you could try renting, maybe from somebody that needs a little bit of cash, more than a big company, or you could try swapping for free.